Trail Conditions in the Whites for March 9th

[pedxing]

I'm sure many of us are thinking about whether or not to head out tomorrow and where to head to.

I was planning on a trip into the Carters starting out from Joe Dodge. Given todays rain forecast and tomorrows forecast, I'm trying to figure what the roads and trails will be like tomorrow morning and hoping to decide before setting my alarm clock tonight. Tons of rain, followed by freezing, followed by more rain raises a lot of question marks for me. Anyone up there today or have a clearer idea of what to expect? Speculations welcome.

 

[NewHampshire]

The MWO forecast is looking a bit sketchy:

http://www.mountwashington.org/weather/

It appears that rain, freezing rain, sleet and snow are expected in the mountains with warm temps that will be dropping to low's in the mid teens and single digits by mid day. Looks like a veritable skating rink may be happening out there.

Brian

 

[Waumbek]

Expect difficult conditions tomorrow. Heavy rain all afternoon and continuing into this evening has swollen streams (and filled up a lot of basements and turned driveways into lakes) as the water runs over snow and frozen ground.

 

[Paradox]

Cold, and $hitty.

 

[Orsonab]

I think black ice will be a big problem tomorrow morning, especially those of us who start driving before dawn to get to the trailhead. That, together with the hour lost due to DST, gives me enough reason to stay at home tomorrow and re-arrange my (hiking) sock drawer...

 

[rocket21]

Just south of the Sandwich Range it's still pouring (and has been for hours), though the temps are very close to freezing.

 

[DrewKnight]

How was it out there?

Our limited experience around town was pleasant, but we stuck to the well-trodden path...

We headed up to the ski area (WV) at about 9am, pretty convinced the skiing wasn't worth the effort it would take to buckle our boots... we were intercepted by a friend who confirmed our fears (he actually told the kids, "Go home, do your homework, you'll have more fun."). Fortunately, in a rare bit of planning ahead, we'd thrown the snowshoes in the car, so we went for a short tramp up the Tripoli Road.

Overall, on the groomed track at least, things looked pretty good... frozen firm, obviously, but not glare ice. The dozen-ish XC skiers we saw seemed to be having a stress-free morning of it. When we ventured off the groomed, we found near-bulletproof hardpack that easily supported 80-lb kids and 130-lb moms, but cracked under the considerable stress of 230-lb dads... I would say I broke through moderately about every third step (and this was wearing 9x30 snowshoes). Had I been barebooting it, I would have post-holed and bloodied my shins but-good.

 

[pedxing]

Thanks for input everyone. Ultimately I decided to go ahead and give it a shot.

I hiked the Carters (South, Middle and North) with a bunch of folks. Wind at top was a little hairy, but not "knock you on your backside" strong. Ice covered branches across the trail made this a near bushwhack at times. A bunch of us got pretty good whacks from balls of ice at the ends of branches. I heard a few emphatic "ouches" and uttered one myself. Hiking around streams was a little more touchy than usual as the swollen streams undermined some of the snow near by.

 

[grouseking]

It wasn't bad...

Actually the rain and flash freeze made most of my hike up Mt Tom a bareboot, though I did bring my snowshoes because of possible postholing, and for traction aid. But the winds weren't bad, the snow was deep, and there was actually light to moderate snow falling all day which added to the traction on the trails. We picked the perfect place to hike. I can imagine going to Mt Washington or anywhere in the higher Presidentials to be downright stupid (like Eisenhower or higher). Winds were only in the 15-20 mph range on Tom, while they were gusting 80-100 on Washington.

Someone will prob post saying they hiked Washington now.

grouseking

 

[Jason Berard]

this is what the trees on the summit of Moriah looked like an Sunday...

 

[pedxing]

Nice pic Jason - thats consistent with what we saw along the ridge in the Carters.

The forecast was for Hurricane force winds atop Washington.